Earlier this year, I had the distinct pleasure of taking my family on an African safari. It was a wonderful trip, and one of the highlights was a hot air balloon ride over parts of the Serengeti. For most of the 16 passengers in our balloon, it was their first experience with a lighter-than-air craft. That wasn’t the case for me, but the ride got me thinking about the history of such designs and the promising commercial applications the industry is poised to tap into.
In the U.S., the LTA category encompasses designs that “rise and remain suspended by using contained gas weighing less than the air that is displaced by the gas,” as FAA words it. LTA aircraft are further categorized as belonging to one of two classes: airships, which are “steerable, engine-driven” aircraft; and free balloons, which sustain flight not via engines but “through the use of either gas buoyancy or an airborne heater.” Of the two, free balloons might be the more recognizable to the general public, given the use of hot air balloons in popular recreational events, including the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. By contrast, the term “airship” is likely to invoke images of large Zeppelins — the airliners of the early 20th century — or the blimps that frequently hover over sporting events providing airborne television coverage and advertising.
While these use cases are sure to continue, the true potential for LTA craft is extremely long-endurance flight, which would be impractical or prohibitively expensive for conventional aircraft, as well as the delivery of heavy or outsized cargo to remote areas that are unreachable via surface transportation. And of course, a small contingency of companies, including World View of Arizona, are planning to ferry passengers to the fringes of space in pressurized capsules born aloft by balloons. But in this column, I’ll just focus on airships.
The potential advantages of LTA have historically been overshadowed by technical challenges. I witnessed this firsthand in 2012 while working as the special assistant to the U.S. Army Acquisition Executive. I was tasked with reviewing the LEMV, or the Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle, that was nearing completion at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey. This optionally piloted aircraft built by Hybrid Air Vehicles of the U.K., equipped with multiple cameras and other monitoring systems from Northrop Grumman, was to be stationed at medium altitudes over the battlefield for three weeks at a time before landing to refuel. The LEMV used helium as a lifting gas and atmospheric air to move the helium forward and aft to maintain pitch stability.
From a programmatic standpoint, I found several deficiencies, which contributed to the Army’s decision to terminate the program in 2013. Chief among them was the fact that in order to meet the tight delivery schedule, a number of the chosen components exceeded weight requirements, resulting in the aircraft weighing 12,000 pounds more than expected. This reduced the loitering time to five days instead of the planned 21 or required the LEMV to fly at a lower altitude, exposing it to enemy threats. I also noted an issue with the lack of separation between its flight control telemetry and the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data links.
Another serious issue emerged in August 2012 during the first flight: The helium shifted more than anticipated inside the interior bags, and the onboard crew lost longitudinal and altitude control. It took nearly two hours to regain control of the vehicle and land it.
Today’s commercial ventures would do well to learn from this experience and others in early airship development. The LEMV never flew again and was later deflated and sold back to Hybrid Air Vehicles. The company has since modified the design for commercial use and renamed it Airlander 10. The prototype was remanufactured to address the earlier issues — replacing the incorrect parts, reworking the control system and adding inflatable feet to protect the cockpit and cabin during emergency landings. These craft are to be steered by onboard pilots, but the company is retaining the possibility of remote operations for military applications. The only prototype was damaged in 2017 and later retired, but Hybrid Air Vehicles believes it has enough data to move into production. A manufacturing facility is under construction in Doncaster, England, with initial deliveries scheduled for 2026.
Also taking to the skies is LTA Research of California with its Pathfinder 1 airship. Shortly after assembly was completed in 2023, I arranged for my team at Airbus to visit the helium-filled airship in Hangar Two at Moffett Federal Airfield in California. LTA Research used 21st-century materials and manufacturing techniques, including a “rotisserie system” in which each frame — and eventually the entire airship — is rotated for easy access prior to inflating with helium. This allows for the airship to be assembled without need for scaffolding. The largest airship built in decades, Pathfinder 1 made its first untethered flight in late 2024, and plans call for a series of short flights around the San Francisco Bay later this year, steered by the airship’s dozen diesel-electric motors. Those are all preparation for a planned cross-country flight to LTA’s new production facility in northeast Ohio, where the larger Pathfinder 3 is currently being assembled. As their names imply, these prototypes are to help LTA refine operations and demonstrate its manufacturing techniques. The latter is particularly important so that in the near future, airships the size of the Navy’s 20th-century dirigibles may take to the skies once again.
Then there’s the Flying Whales LCA60T design, which I first came across at the 2023 Paris Air Show. This rigid airship is being designed to carry bulky gear like wind turbine blades, with a capacity of 60 tons in its massive cargo bay and 10 nonpressurized helium cells. And the company appears to have given thought to precision control, adding 32 electric thrusters that are to precisely position the vehicle to deliver its cargo. The company is in the final selection process for a production and flight test site, with first deliveries targeted for 2027.
Another contender with a distinct design and business strategy is H2 Clipper of California, which is developing a hydrogen-centric design to create “the world’s first point-to-point hydrogen delivery system” — a so-called pipeline in the sky. Here, the airship’s primary purpose is as a delivery mechanism for fuel-cell-grade hydrogen. Clippers would be inflated at hydrogen production sites and then flown to storage and hydrogen use facilities for emptying. The company was anticipating a first flight in 2026 and deliveries by 2029. Of course, this business model depends on there being a robust hydrogen energy market — and forecasts don’t look promising. Demand for hydrogen increased just 2.5% from 2022 to 2023, according to the latest state-of-the-market report from the International Energy Agency, and only 1 megaton of the hydrogen produced in 2023 was low-emissions. “For the full project pipeline to materialise, the sector would need to grow at an unprecedented compound annual growth rate of over 90% from 2024 until 2030,” the report reads.
So perhaps someday in the not-so-distant future, we may see these behemoths of the sky moving massive cargo, or maybe we’ll be riding in one as it provides sightseeing adventures unavailable today, such as an Arctic or Antarctic pleasure cruise or even an extended safari, hovering at tree height, over the Serengeti, as I did.
After returning to the ground from our two-hour balloon experience, the passengers, along with the pilot and ground crew, gathered for the traditional post-landing glass of Champagne. Before taking our first sip, our Tanzanian-born, U.S.-trained pilot recounted the story of how and why the tradition began. If you don’t understand the importance of this event, I strongly suggest you take a ride in a balloon and discover for yourself.
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